Chatbot is the latest buzzword on the front scene of the tech world. Everybody is rushing to the chatbot bandwagon to know how important it is to have for your business. In this article, we quickly take you through what is a chatbot and why your business needs it.

Chatbots, artificially intelligent computer programs designed to have real conversations with your customers, are poised for enormous growth. It is capable of simulating seamless interactions with customers and typically be found on funnels like Facebook Messenger, Siri, Telegram, WeChat, Slack, SMS, Skype and many others.

From a series of self-initiated tasks to a quasi-conversation–chatbots are transforming the way businesses interact with the world and significantly with their customers.

Chatbots for Business

Chatbots aren’t just clever apps, they are valuable marketing tools to serve the customer in this more conversational way, that can help customers find relevant products or services. Customers demands fast, personalized service, and chatbots make answering these demands easier. From small to big enterprises, adopting chatbots as a part of their marketing, lead generation, or customer service strategies.

From assisting in customer service matters to find new opportunities, chatbots bridge the gap between human interaction. Big companies leverage bots to perform tasks that used to be either done without help or weren’t possible at all before chatbots were introduced.Chatbots aren’t just limited to big businesses. Small businesses can also take advantage of them too, by harnessing the power of the ever-popular messaging app.

Types Of Chatbots

There are basically two types of chatbots: depending on how the specific bots were programmed: one that functions based on a set of rules, and uses machine learning or only respond according to pre-prepared commands. And the other one functions using artificial intelligence and gets smarter as it learns from different conversations it has.

Command Based Chatbots

Command based chatbots rely on a databank of replies and heuristics based on pre-written keywords that they understand. These chatbots can answer a limited set of questions cannot perform functions outside its code otherwise will require manual help for atypical questions. Command based chatbots use template search or dynamic search for understanding and answering questions so to answer a question, the chatbot has to understand it first. It cannot create new texts if the user has asked a question without using a single keyword; the bot cannot understand it and, as a rule, replies with messages like “sorry, I did not understand”.

AI-Based Or Machine Learning Chatbots

AI-based or machine learning chatbots rely on artificial intelligence and can answer ambiguous questions when they communicate with customers. Meaning, you do not have to be specific, the bot responds with adequate suggestions on the topic. The chatbots respond from scratch using natural language processing. In addition, all the words by the customers are stored for the future processing. However, machine learning chatbots need a vast amount of learning data and can struggle to form longer sentences.

Why Your Business Needs A Chatbot

1. Chatbots can operate without an upper limit from the limitations of a human task force to scale up your operations
2. Chatbots can take the load from your customer support team by acting as the first point of contact and redirect them to marketing team only when required.
3. Chatbots can assist your customers in getting the right product or service if you are selling goods and services which are near substitutes for each other.
4. Chatbots can be useful in actively marketing content through online channels to interact with your customers.
5. Chatbots creates a marketing platform with highly interactive experience rather than creating a passive user experience.
6. Chatbot can automate everything to drive up organizational efficiency if you are burning too many resources in backend support for mundane and repetitive tasks.

How Can Chatbots Be Used For Your Business?

Every business want to take advantage of online presence can also use a chatbot to enhance their business. Here are some use cases of chatbot:

Query Bots

Instead of the customer having to make a call to you, you can easily configure a chatbot to take care of customer queries and give out information on wide range of products and services. Implementing and programming query, bot can compile to answer a list of 10 or more most frequently asked questions.

Shopping Assistant Bots

With shopping assistant bots the possibilities are endless! These bots can help you sell more as it list downs the options you have that fit the filters, thereby customer can see the products, shop or see more alternative options. Efficiencies in addressing customer concerns in real-time can build a trust and enhance your brand reputation.

Explainer Bots

Using a combination of interactive media like videos, images and can also use links to drive customers to the right pages to get a feel for your product. Explainer bots are a big boost to your customer team usually live on your website via a chat tool and help answer queries your potential customers might have.

Post Purchase Bots

A good after sales connection with your customers can make a big difference, here is where most brands struggle. Implementing chatbots help your customers with their post-purchase issues. Post-purchase bots can be configured to do anything like taking feedback, registering complaints, scheduling returns .

Bottom Line: Chatbots

With every new technology, we are moving a step closer to a more connected and digital future. Chatbots can play an important role in your success story. If your’s is a small or medium business and wants to expand your business, then creat a chatbot for your eCommerce store. Chatbot capabilities are increasing from day to day be ahead of the curve. One thing is pretty clear though, chatbots are here to stay, and their development will impact both businesses as well as customers. Advancement in chatbots has opened up a new platform for businesses.

Get a chatbot developed for your business today.